Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of Austrian Application No. A 554/99, filed on Mar. 25, 1999. Applicant also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7120 of PCT/AT00/00065, filed on Mar. 22, 2000. The international application under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.
The invention relates to a foldable kick scooter with a footboard forming bearing forks on which is held a guide bearing for the bearing fork of the front wheel which is connected to a steering column which is divided into linked elements and can be swiveled about a transversal axle against the footboard.
In order to provide a foldable kick scooter which shows relatively small dimensions in the folded state it is known (WO 99/00 290 A1) to subdivide the footboard by a central hinge, so that the two footboard parts can be swiveled downwardly against one another. Since moreover the guide bearing for the steering column forming the bearing fork for the front wheel is disposed on a support which is held swivelably on the footboard about a swiveling axis which is parallel to the hinge axis of the footboard, the steering column, which itself is divided into linked elements, can be moved from an operating position to an idle position swiveled towards the footbard in which the mutually swivelable parts of the steering column come to lie upon one another. The disadvantage in this known construction is especially that during the swiveling together of the two mutually hinged footboard parts, the wheels swiveled against one another come to lie above one another and thus substantially determine the overall height of the folded kick scooter. This known construction therefore requires wheels with comparably small diameters. This, however, is accompanied by unfavorable rolling properties especially on uneven pavements.
In a foldable motor scooter (U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,883 A), a pivot means arm for the rear wheel which is swivelably held in a frame-like chassis can be swiveled after the removal of the supporting control arm shafts and the removal of the seat upwardly about an inclined transversal axis between the side parts of the frame on which an extension arm is linked for fixing the guide bearing for the bearing fork of the front wheel. Since the part of the extension arm which carries the guide bearing can be additionally swiveled back by an inclined transversal axis against the chassis once a supporting frame connecting the guide bearing with the chassis has been removed, the front wheel, once the control arm shaft has been removed, can be swiveled upwardly about the inclined transversal axis between the two parts of the extension arm in order to be swiveled jointly with the two parts of the extension arm about the link axis of the extension arm on the chassis against the same. As a result of the inclined transversal axes about which both the front as well as the rear wheel can be swiveled, the two wheels come to lie next to one another between the side parts of the chassis, which ensures small dimensions of the foldable motor scooter. This, however, requires considerable complexity in the construction which requires a chassis which is unsuitable for a kick scooter.
The invention is thus based on the object of providing a foldable kick scooter of the kind mentioned above in such a way that despite the use of comparably large running wheels it can be folded in an advantageous manner into an idle position with a low overall height.
This object is achieved by the invention in such a way that both the guide bearing for the front bearing fork as well as the rear bearing fork are held about parallel lateral axles swivelable in the downward direction against the footboard and that the footboard forms two through-openings for the swiveled wheels.
Since as a result of these measures merely the bearing forks for the front and the rear wheel are swiveled downwardly against the footboard, the wheels do not come to lie above one another as in a centrally divided footboard, but instead behind one another, so that in providing respective through-openings for the wheels in the footboard, the bearing forks can be placed flatly against the footboard. This fulfills an important precondition for the low overall height of the folded kick scooter. The steering column can then also be folded according to its breakdown into linked elements.
Since the swivelability of the guide bearing is used for swiveling off the front wheel and not for swiveling in the steering column against the footboard, the steering column held in the guide bearing could comprise a first hinge directly above the guide bearing. Particularly advantageous constructional conditions are obtained, however, when the steering column is not held in the guide bearing but on the front bearing fork about an axle parallel to the wheel axle and can be swiveled off from the operating position to an idle position which is substantially parallel to the bearing fork because in this case the guide length of the bearing guide does not play any role for the arrangement of the lowermost hinge for the steering column. The steering column is held swivelably on the bearing fork. This support of the steering column which is eccentric with respect to the guide bearing must not lead to any steering difficulties, however. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the steering column extends in its operating position at least substantially coaxially to the guide bearing. In order to ensure supporting conditions for the steering column, which are advantageous for such an operating position, the steering column can be provided with a supporting stop which rests in the operating position of the steering column on the free face surface of a bearing bolt of the front bearing fork which is held in the guide bearing.